5 stars
This book surprised me. I wasn't seeing how the beginning was connected to the title and the cover, but it kept me going until it all made sense. Awesome.
It seems like a long book, but it reads very fast. I connected immediately with the main character. In the beginning, it seems she is shy, alone, and lost, and she has a shadow that chases her. All seems like a metaphor, but the paranormal bits are real. I love when that happens when it's not just a dream or trauma. There is plenty of trauma but this is a novel about sisterhood, women putting aside their selfishness and pettiness to see the bigger picture, that there are too many of us who have me too stories, and that times change and silence is no longer the resolution.
These teens find themselves trapped on an island with a vengeful evil, and after one of them is brutally murdered the others begin to uncover the truth. I loved it. It's sad. Some readers may want to consider reading the triggers first if it is something that will impact.
I found it a very satisfying ending and will look out for more books from this author. I loved that the author was inspired to write the story the way she did with the elements presented (no spoilers).
Thank you publisher for the copy.
@tbrbeyondtours & @jillwritesbooks
Book Info:
So Witches We Become by Jill Baguchinsky
Genre: Young Adult Horror/Fantasy
Publishing Date: July 23, 2024
Synopsis:
If boys will be boys, girls will fight back.
For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her—secrets that fuse with the island’s tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast.
Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she’d rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that’s haunted her since childhood.
Easier said than done.
But when Nell’s friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape.
Perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Rory Power and reading like a YA feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, So Witches We Became is a diverse, queer horror about female friendship, the emotional aftermath of surviving assault, and how to find power in the shadows of your past.
Content Warning: Discussion of sexual assault, sexual harassment, death of an animal (killing of a fish), violence and gore
Book Links:
About the Author:
Jill Baguchinsky grew up fluent in darkness and Disney. She spent much of her life on a barrier island just off the coast of Southwest Florida, where she read way too much Stephen King and dodged more hurricanes than she could count.
Jill’s queer YA horror novel, SO WITCHES WE BECAME, will launch in summer 2024 from Little, Brown and Company. Inspired by Jill’s experience with Hurricane Irma in 2017, SWWB is a story about storm surge, female rage, and toxic bro culture. If boys will be boys, girls will fight back.
Jill still lives in Florida, but after one hurricane too many, she and her mini menagerie of rescue animals moved inland. Aside from the manatees she used to watch in her backyard canal, she doesn’t miss much about island life.
Author Links:
Website: https://jillbaguchinsky.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jillbaguchinsky
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillwritesbooks/
Tour Schedule:
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